A four-ingredient chocolate bark you set in the freezer, with a scoop of Adrenal Switch blended through it. About five minutes of work and it keeps for weeks.
It is a good one to have in the freezer over the Christmas period, and the toppings are entirely up to you.
Key points
- Four ingredients. Plus whatever toppings you like.
- Five minutes. Blend, pour, top, freeze.
- No cooking. Nothing goes near an oven.
- Keeps for weeks. Straight from the freezer.
- Eat it cold. It softens fast at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 serve Adrenal Switch in Chocolate
- Toppings: freeze-dried raspberries, pepitas, shredded coconut, cacao nibs
Method
- Combine the coconut oil, butter, cacao powder and Adrenal Switch and blend until smooth.
- Pour onto a lined dinner plate or small tray.
- Scatter the toppings over the surface while it is still liquid.
- Freeze until firm, about an hour, then break into shards.
Why does it melt so fast?
Because it is coconut oil and butter rather than chocolate, and that is worth understanding before you serve it.
Coconut oil melts at around 24 degrees, which is below room temperature in an Australian summer. Real chocolate is tempered to hold its structure at higher temperatures. This bark is not tempered and never will be.
So keep it in the freezer and take it out just before serving. If you need something that survives a dessert table for an hour, melt 200 g of dark chocolate into the mix, or use dark chocolate as the base instead.
Can I make it dairy free?
Yes. Replace the butter with an equal amount of extra coconut oil or a plant-based butter.
All-coconut-oil versions set harder and melt faster, which is a slightly odd combination but works fine straight from the freezer. Check your Adrenal Switch flavour for dairy if that matters to you.
What toppings work best?
Anything that stays crisp when frozen. Anything with moisture in it turns to ice.
- Freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries. The best option: sharp, colourful, and they stay crunchy.
- Pepitas, cacao nibs, chopped nuts. Texture and a bit of salt against the sweetness.
- Shredded or flaked coconut. Toast it first if you have five spare minutes, it is a noticeable improvement.
- Flaky sea salt. A small amount does more than any other topping here.
- Not fresh fruit. It freezes into hard lumps and weeps when it thaws.
Can I use a different flavour?
Yes, though chocolate is the natural fit given the cacao powder.
Salted caramel and choc mint both work well. Fruit flavours fight the cacao, so if that is what you have, drop the cacao powder and let the flavour lead instead. You will get a white bark rather than a dark one.
Is this a healthy dessert?
It is a better option than most Christmas sweets, and it is still a dessert. Worth saying plainly.
Half a cup of coconut oil and a third of a cup of butter is a lot of fat, so this is energy dense whichever way you cut it. What it does have going for it is no added sugar beyond what is in the toppings, and no flour.
Treat it as a nicer version of a Christmas treat rather than as a health food, and cut the shards small.
How long does it keep?
Up to a month in the freezer in an airtight container, with baking paper between layers so the shards do not fuse.
It does not keep in the fridge, and it certainly does not keep in the cupboard. This is a freezer recipe.
For more like this, browse the full recipe collection.
